• Question: how do people get brain deseases such as a stroke or a brain clott?

    Asked by rory14 to Callum, Sam on 23 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Sam Godfrey

      Sam Godfrey answered on 23 Nov 2012:

      A stroke is what happens when a blood clot from the body travels through the blood vessels and gets lodged in a blood vessel in the brain. This stops blood getting to the brain, and without blood, the brain can starve very quickly. Depending on where the clot goes depends on how bad the stroke is. It really is a lottery. If you are lucky then there may be no bad side effects, but sometimes whole regions of the persons brain can die and it can be difficult to recover from that. Often it is inbetween. So someone might have a problem with the speech centre of their brain. They will hear and understand but not be able to speak. Luckily our brain is quite good at adapting so in time many stroke victims make a near recovery as other parts of the brain learn to do the jobs of the dead part.

    • Photo: Callum Johnston

      Callum Johnston answered on 23 Nov 2012:

      There are two things that cause a stroke. The first is where one of the vessles taking blood to your brain gets blocked, either by a blood clot or by a clump of fat. This means your brain gets starved of blood while the vessel is blocked. Eventually the block will normally remove its self or they can be given a drug and blood will flow back into the brain. Depending on how long the block is there for will depend on how bad the damage is. And what part of the brain gets starved will cause the symptoms to be different.

      The second type is where a blood vessell bursts in the head and so the blood leaks out meaning it doesn’t get to the correct part of the brain. But the same thing damage occurs to the brain.

      The problem for doctors is they don’t know which one has happened until they do a special scan of the head and its really risky giving them a drug without knowing which one it is. If you give someone with a burst vessel a drug to remove a clot it will cause even more bleeding and the person will die. But taking the scan takes time and therefore the person doesnt get the drug as quickly as they need it. Its a real catch 22!

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